Political Science 1100, Introduction to American Politics, February 6, 2013

Reminder: Exam 1 at 9:30 one week from today

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Current Events 

 

Civil Rights:
When Government Must Step in to Protect People 

 

 

The Constitution left many unanswered questions about civil rights

   

   

2). Unanswered Question #2

        Can slaveowners start their own nation?

 

          How did the U.S. answer?   Civil War
 

 

3). Unanswered Question #3
    

      Are African-Americans' civil rights protected by the states?
     

 

 

       How did the U.S. answer?  In the courts

           

          At first, by letting states decide (de jure segregation; "Jim Crow")

               

            Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 upheld Jim Crow laws

 

  In the 1950s, Brown versus Board of Education (1954) rejects de jure segregation in schools
 

         The Civil Rights Movement, the 1964 Civil Rights Act & the 1965 Voting Rights Act

  

4). The legacy

 

    a). The Civil Rights agenda expands to de facto segregation: Housing, Schools, Jobs
 

 

    b). ... and to other groups: Gender, Other Minorities, the Disabled, and Gays

 

 

 

Civil Liberties: What Problems Should Not Be Public?

 

1. The Constitution at its Most Ambiguous: Civil Liberties

      
        - An Example: Freedom of Religion

 

 

2. Two Positions on Civil Liberties
 

    a) The Absolutist Position (Hugo Black)

 

 

    b) The Balancing Position (Most Judges)

 

 

3. Free Speech Against National Security Threats
     

    The Smith Act (1940) - makes it a crime to join an organization advocating the violent overthrow of the government

 

    The Case of Dennis v. U.S. (1951)

 

    - The Supreme Court Majority Opinion upholds the Smith Act

 

    - Hugo Black's Minority Opinion

 

4. The Right to Privacy
 

    The case of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) - Griswold arrested for making contraceptives available

 

        - The Supreme Court Majority Opinion rules there is a right to privacy

 

        - Hugo Black's Minority Opinion

 

 

Public Opinion: How Americans View Government and Politics

 

1. How Do You Find Out About Americans' Political Opinions?
 

        a. Why the Personal Approach Doesn't Work

 

b. Random Sampling: Scientific Polling
    - The most careful way to select people to ask for opinions.

 

 

2. A Consumer’s Guide to Well Conducted Polls
 

 

Pay attention to

a). The Margin of Error

 

b). Whether or not the Sample is Random

 

c). The Wording of the Questions

 

d). Interpreting the Results

 

Warning:

Listen carefully for "Push Polls" that are trying to change your mind.

 

3. What do you find out when you ask Americans for their political opinions?
   

a. Americans have limited knowledge of public affairs

 

     

 

b. Americans' opinions can change, sometimes quickly

 

                       

c. Americans' opinions are not always logically consistent

 

 

    An example: Tolerance